TIN MINING IN PERAK. 27 



Sometimes there is a considerable quantity of a heavy pinkish- 

 coloured mineral which has not yet been indentified. 



In the Plus district the " dulang " used for separating the 

 gold is more concave, and it has a small circular hole in the centre 

 of it about the size of a cent piece. It is used differently to the 

 flat one, the object being to make the tin -sand flow off while 

 the gold dust remains in the circular recess in the centre of 

 the dish. 



In Upper Perak the same implement is used but it has 

 a rather larger hole in the centre. Another form of " dulang " 

 is also in use in Upper Perak for gold washing. It is conical 

 in form. An example in the Perak Museum measures sixteen 

 and a half inches in diameter at the top, one inch in diameter at 

 the bottom, with an inside depth of four inches. These conical 

 dishes are used with a circular movement, and when in skilful 

 hands appear to be very effective. 



The amount of gold is reckoned amongst the miners as 

 being so many "chi" or " tahil" per pikul of tin -sand. The 

 gold dust is weighed with a small bone steel -yard, similar to that 

 used in weighing opium. The weights employed are the Chinese, 

 which have been adopted as the legal weights in Perak. These 

 small scales are, however, not stamped, or supplied by the 

 Grovernment like the larger ones. The weights are as fol- 

 lows : — 



CHINESE GOLDSMITHS' WEIGHTS. 



1 Ti ... ... ... equals -58 Grains, Troy. 



10 Ti ... equals I Hun ... „ 583 



10 Hun 1 Chi ... „ 5883 



10 Chi ... „ 1 Tahil... „ 583-33 



16 Tahil ... „ 1 Kati ... „ 9,333-33 



The tahil is equal to 1 oz. 4 dwts. 7^ grains, Troy, and 

 l(v80 pikuls equal 1 ton. The tahil represents in the pikul 

 1- 1600th, and the chi 1- 16000th. One chi to the pikul would 

 equal 2 ozs. 20 grs., and one tahil to the pikul 20 ozs. 8 dwts. 

 8 grs. to the ton of ore respectively. 



As a rule the richer the gold the poorer the tin -sand, that 

 is to say more " amang " and other impurity is mixed with it. 

 In a few places it is really "auiang" and gold that is obtained, 

 the tin being so small in quantity that it is a not worth 

 taking into account. There is also, in much of the ore, a 

 large proportion of iron pyrites. 



5 



